The right-wing populist Progress Party surged to its best result in a national election, doubling its share of the vote to around 24 percent and relegating the Conservatives to being only the third-largest force in parliament. Conservative leader Erna Solberg said she took personal responsibility for her party’s poor result.
The result means Støre will likely form a government with the support of four other left-wing parties. It comes after a closely fought campaign dominated by debates over the cost of living, wealth taxes, the future of Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund and the country’s relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier on Monday, Støre said that rising prices had been at the top of voters’ minds, as well as foreign affairs issues such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Støre has been prime minister of a minority center-left coalition government since the last election in 2021.
Støre’s improvement in the polls this year is closely tied to the return to government of popular former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who became finance minister in February. Within days of his appointment, dubbed the “Stoltenback” effect, Labor surged 10 percentage points.
